


say it's all been done (but they haven't seen the best of me)

by ayushi_writes



Category: Voltron: Legendary Defender
Genre: Love Confessions, M/M, Mutual Pining, Post-Canon, The Stars Align Zine, except alluras not dead bc FU C K that, keith is Big in love with him, lance goes on a mission with the bom, lance? a farmer? Not On My Watch, me n keith chugging validating lance juice
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2019-08-01
Updated: 2019-08-01
Packaged: 2020-07-28 21:16:52
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 5,138
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/20070724
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/ayushi_writes/pseuds/ayushi_writes
Summary: “Hey, man.”As if on autopilot, Lance extends his hand, as if he expects Keith to shake it, instead of—“Mmf.” Keith pulls him in, forcing Lance to lean down and his face ends up buried in warm alien leather.Lance laughs a little, muffled by Keith’s shoulder. “Good to see you too.”Keith seems to remember himself and lets him go, stepping back a little but still close, so close, closer than any video call—“It’s been a while,” Keith says quietly, head tilted up a little to look him in the face and Lance isstilltaller than him— barely a couple of inches, but it makes his stomach twist.~the war is over, lance is reunited with his family, and his team made it through.then why does he feel like a seventh wheel still spinning?





	say it's all been done (but they haven't seen the best of me)

**Author's Note:**

> hello!! so this piece was my submission for the stars align zine, [which you can check out here!!](https://thestarsalign-klancezine.tumblr.com/post/186112328958/after-many-months-and-so-many-applicants-we-have) it’s a free, downloadable pdf with a TON of incredibly talented writers and artists featured in it and their amazing post-canon fanworks!! ill ramble more about it in the end notes
> 
> quick note, quaris is the name i gave the mermaid planet from the depths in s2
> 
> this fic is sort of my love letter to lance. i think we can All Agree he deserved better than what he got, and this is my attempt at giving him a happier ending <3 
> 
> title from high hopes, a very lance song imo :’)
> 
> enjoy!

Lance is stooped over a particularly stubborn weed, attempting to tug it out from amidst the cassava when Melissa sprints down the hill, pigtails flying.

“Tío Lance! We got a message from the aliens!”

“Huh?” 

“The Blade of Mar, Marmana? Marmalade?” She scrunches her face up and shrugs. “They asked for you!”

Right. The transmitter in the corner of the living room that he’d near forgotten about after setting up. He didn’t talk to his friends through it— it was sort of like a business cell, but for intergalactic signals.

Lance lets his niece tug him along up to the house, speculating on what the Blade of Marmora could possibly want from him. Maybe it’s to chew him out for that one time years ago when he snuck into the weapons room with Pidge and Hunk to do target practice. In all fairness, what else were they to do with the Zarkon figurines they found at the space mall?

The holographic screen is flickering in front of the shelf in the living room when he gets there, panting a little, and on it is a familiar face.

“Hey, uh, sir. Commander. Lieute— I don’t know. Hey, Kolivan.”

“Hello, Lance.” Kolivan has always been wonderfully blasé about formalities. “We’re in need of your assistance.”

Lance crosses his arms. “What is it? Another ‘Thanks For Saving Reality’ banquet?”

“A mission. We were informed that you’ve had prior experience with the people of Quaris?”

“Yeah— why? Is there, is there any rebel Galra occupation?” He’s instantly on edge, head running wild with the worst case scenarios of what’s befallen them.

Kolivan sighs, the holographic distortion blurring his eyes. 

“Not necessarily. Quaris is in— it’s not in ideal shape. The structural integrity of the planet is in natural decay, which is expected of its life cycle. However, the war’s effects have accelerated its process. Our goal is to evacuate the inhabitants to a nearby planet with a similar atmosphere and composition. We think you would be a fitting choice for diplomacy and negotiations, given your familiarity with it from before.”

“How do you guys know about that?”

Kolivan’s mouth quirks up a little. “Our leader has taken it upon him to share the tales of your exploits in… great detail.”

“Keith?” Lance is taken aback.

“Yes. He’ll be leading this mission. I’ll send over some more intel shortly, but that’s the essence of it. You don’t have to answer now, but… will you join us?”

Space. Keith. Missions. Lance feels a little lightheaded, but his response is clear and true.

“I’m in.”

Kolivan’s mouth quirks again. “Excellent. We will be sending over a ship within the week.”

* * *

The war with the Galra ended five months and thirteen days ago today. 

Haggar’s ultimate sacrifice restored all the realities, and Lance… Lance could finally go home.

Allura and him agreed to break it off. The conditions under which they got together in the first place were… less than ideal, and they were all so shaken by the weight of _mending every reality_ that it seemed trivial to work through.

The paladins went their separate ways, and Lance misses them every day, a distinct ache in his chest that he tries his best to stave off. They all meet up whenever the stars and their schedules align. Coran and Allura are off with their long-lost people in New Altea, Pidge is working at the Garrison’s laboratory, Hunk is bringing together hearts and planets with his cooking, Shiro’s commanding more respect than ever at the Garrison as a senior officer, and Keith… Keith is working to fix the universe, one planet at a time.

And Lance is on his family’s farm.

They’ve been doing group video calls as often as they all can manage, which comes out to about once a month. It’s been a couple of weeks since their last one, though, and Lance finds himself slipping too far into his thoughts with the isolation.

He’s… he’s happy, so unbelievably grateful that he made it home safe and to his family. He cherishes them more than ever now but he can’t avoid the static of stagnation in the back of his head, wheels still spinning after all the action in his life came to an abrupt halt.

Doing great things… that was for the others. Lance’s left palm sometimes itches for the underside of his bayard, his feet for Blue and Red’s pedals, but it’s fine. He isn’t destined to fix the universe, not in the way everyone else is doing.

It’s fine.

* * *

“Within the week,” as it turns out, is Galra for “two goddamn days.” Of course, Lance is already packed and ready because maybe he’s a little too eager, stir-crazy without all the frenetic action that paladin life entailed.

Lance fidgets on his porch, bag slung over his shoulder. The imposing black-metal shuttle gradually lowers itself to the front yard, blowing hay every which way with its turbines.

The door opens.

And Keith is in front of him, smiling gently, and Lance’s brain is short-circuiting like he’s a teenager again.

“Hey, man.” 

As if on autopilot, Lance extends his hand, as if he expects Keith to shake it, instead of—

“Mmf.” Keith pulls him in, forcing Lance to lean down and his face ends up buried in warm alien leather.

Lance laughs a little, muffled by Keith’s shoulder. “Good to see you too.”

Keith seems to remember himself and lets him go, stepping back a little but still close, so close, closer than any video call—

“It’s been a while,” Keith says quietly, head tilted up a little to look him in the face and Lance is _still_ taller than him— barely a couple of inches, but it makes his stomach twist.

“Yeah,” Lance manages, eyes flitting over him, cataloguing any new scars, bruises, changes since he last saw him. Since when does Keith do _ponytails?_ A snarky comment would be formulating in his head right now if he didn’t look so goddamn _good_ with it.

Someone coughs.

Keith startles, glancing over his shoulder at an impatient-looking officer. He turns back to Lance, an apologetic smile curling up at his lips.

“Ready to go?”

He’s already kissed the heads of all his nieces and nephews, reassuring them he’ll be back soon with even more wild space tales to tell them. The buzz of anticipation in his ears nearly drowns out his own response. 

“Always am.”

* * *

Keith leads him to a room with various papers scattered around a table and boxes stacked up along the walls. 

“Kolivan and the others are still organizing supplies.” He waves a hand at the boxes. “I’ll go help them after I debrief you.”

Lance hopes up on the table, dangling his legs over the edge and internally trying to tamp down his nervous energy.

“Fire away, Commander Kogane,” he quips.

The corner of Keith’s mouth quirks up, the easy familiarity of their interactions settling between them as if no time has passed. “Captain, actually.”

Lance widens his eyes, snapping a hand up in a salute. “No one informed me I was in the presence of the Captain Kogane—”

“Oh, my god.” 

“Savior of the every reality, master swordsman, leader of Voltron—”

“_Please_ stop—”

“_The _lone wolf Keith, star of The Voltron Show and other licensed properties!” Lance throws his arms wide, nearly knocking over a precariously-balanced pile of papers.

Keith rolls his eyes. “You haven’t changed a bit.”

He flexes an arm. “I take offense to that, clearly these farmer McClain _guns—_"

“Like you weren’t already fit,” Keith snorts.

“What?”

“What?”

Keith coughs at Lance’s surprised expression. “You were. Are. Space wars do that.”

“Right,” Lance says faintly.

They lapse into silence.

Keith shuffles around some papers on the desk, breaks it with a, “So! Mission debrief.”

“Yeah, uh, that.” 

Keith takes a moment to seemingly regain his composure. “Well, the formal goal for this mission is collaboration with the Quarins for relief and relocation efforts.”

“So, I just waltz in there and charm the tail off Queen Luxia to pretty please play nice with the purple furries?” Lance cracks, hoping to get another small smile out of Keith.

He does, but not for long. “She might be a little… reluctant.” Keith winces a little.

“So I'm your plan Z?” Lance chuckles.

“No.” The honesty in Keith's tone throws him off. “The moment I knew this would be difficult, I recommended bringing you in.”

“Uh." He blinks. “Alright, so where’s the difficulty? What’s stopping the Quarins from, y’know, getting the hell out of Dodge?”

Keith heaves a frustrated sigh. “They’re willing to go down with their planet. Which is where we come in to convince them otherwise.”

“How far have you gotten with that?”

“Communications so far haven’t been very encouraging.” His brow furrows. “It’s just, they seem so _resigned _to doing nothing about it. The collateral damage from getting caught in the crossfire has put all this extra deterioration into motion, and they’re just—”

“Letting it happen.” Lance finishes, voice oddly distant. “Like they’ve made it this far and then decided there’s nothing more they can do.”

Keith _looks _at him. “Yeah,” he says, slowly. “So, we’re going to convince them that’s not true and help them.”

They fall into silence again, but something on Keith’s wrist beeps before it can stretch too long. He looks down.

“I’m needed for some management matters. I’ll, uh, lead you to the common area first.”

He turns around and Lance follows him down a well-lit hallway. At least the Galra have diverged from their purple aesthetic for the sake of visibility.

* * *

The common area is packed with Galra, but some humans and other aliens are interspersed among the crowd. No one really gives him a second glance.

Lance gets shuttled in next to a lanky Galra lounging over two seats like a cat.

“Uh. Hi, could I…?”

The Galra sits bolt upright, ears twitching upwards, again uncannily similar to a startled cat. 

“Are you _him?”_

His voice is accented with what Lance is guessing is the Galra equivalent of Southern dialect.

“I'm Lance, I'll be working with diplomacy on this mission—”

“Lance,” the Galra says slowly, like he's tasting it. “So you _are _him… I'm D'Jin an’ I'm guessin’ we'll be seat buddies for our little trip here.”

“What do you mean by 'him?’” Lance furrows his brow as he slumps into his newly-vacated seat.

“The one Kogane won’ shut up about. The one that… got away.” D'Jin seems to be given to dramatic pauses whenever he sees fit.

Lance is at a loss for words at whatever D'Jin seems to be implying. Keith _talks_ about him? To his crew?

“Y’know, Cap'n's mentioned a lotta bout ya,” D'Jin drawls, “but I didn' know he wasn' exaggerating yer _looks._” He punctuates his statement with an exaggerated look up-down and Lance doesn't know how to respond.

“I, uh.” He’s never been one to turn down come-ons from anyone attractive, but this new information, coupled with the comment Kolivan had made about Keith “sharing his exploits,” is scrambling some of his higher functions right now.

Just how much does Keith mention him to the Marmorans?

“Gets the dorkiest look on his face when he says anythin’ about ya, too,” D’Jin snorts, seeming to follow Lance’s train of thought. “All wishy-washy-like ‘bout his paladin buddies.”

_That _makes a little more sense than the picture he was painting in his head. Of course Keith would get nostalgic remembering their old space adventures, he—

“‘The one that got away’ is the crew’s nickname for ya. He talks about ya diff’rent.”

D’Jin confuses him more with every sentence. Lance sighs, settling in for a long trip.

* * *

Once they arrive at Quaris, Keith does a sort of nod-gesture that indicates Lance to approach the queen with him. They’ve landed on a large island, and the queen awaits them just below the surface. Underwater gear had been handed out and donned shortly before landing. D’Jin twirls his oxygen tube around his finger flirtatiously at Lance as they file out.

And, wow, Kolivan and Keith weren’t exaggerating the state the planet is in. Lance can see debris floating in the distance, and the water looks distinctly cloudier than his last visit. As they walk into the sea, the underwater foliage is sparse and the little of it that’s left looks sickly. 

It looks well on its way to becoming uninhabitable.

Queen Luxia’s face is stern, but she greets them courteously. Before any of them can open their mouths, she gestures behind her, deeper into the sea.

“Let us discuss within the court.”

Keith, Lance, Kolivan, and a couple of commanders swim after her.

Upon arriving at the palace, they’re led to a room lined with various decadently dressed nobles, tentacles neatly arranged and scales gleaming. They rise as the queen swims over to her throne and sit back down as she gestures for their group to speak.

Kolivan bows. “Queen Luxia, we would like to again extend our offer of aid in relocating your people to a nearby planet with a similar geological makeup to Quaris.”

The queen sighs.

”We appreciate your offer, but our people have no need to evacuate. Perhaps our observation of self-interest in staying out of the war is finding its retribution now.”

Lance hears the echo of resignation in her voice.

It's the same acceptance that he couldn't accept from the Balmera. 

“Your Highness, if I may—” he starts. 

Queen Luxia inclines her head towards him ever so slightly. “Ah, Paladin Lance. I remember your time here.”

He smiles at her. “So do I. Quaris is a beautiful planet with even more beautiful inhabitants. Inhabitants that… that deserve another chance.”

Lance takes a deep breath. “It isn’t always cowardice to flee. I can see the respect and ties you have to your planet, but holding on to those ties comes at a price.” He indicates the grayish tint of the water around them.

“I understand your reluctance to leave all you’ve known, but that shouldn’t outweigh the chance to save what you have now. Sometimes, there’s only so many people you can save. But that choice is in your hands right now, and that number only grows smaller with time.” He spreads his arms. “We’re here to help you, but your people need to take the first step to save yourselves.”

Silence rings after Lance's proclamation. He chances a glance at Keith, who's looking at him with something akin to wonder in his eyes. He steps— rather, swims— forward to stand at Lance's side.

“Please, Your Majesty. We want to help you preserve your culture and people. Let us bring your civilization to a place where it can thrive for centuries more.”

His tone is beseeching as the queen's face smooths over into something unreadable.

“I suppose you’ve given us reason to discuss the matter further. I must speak with my counsel.” 

She waves a hand at them as dismissal, but her stern expression from before has softened into something that makes Lance’s chest clench with rising hope.

They wait outside the council room’s doors. Keith turns to Lance.

“That was. Good.” His voice is a little distorted through the mask, but Lance can hear its sincerity.

“Um. Thanks,” he replies, for some reason feeling embarrassed of his little speech. “Don’t know where it came from, really.” He does, and he’d rather throw himself into the nearest white hole than admit it out loud.

Keith studies him. “Still. It was passionate— not that I’d expect anything less from you,” he says, his voice oddly warm.

Lance doesn’t know what to say to that, so he just nods and hums.

Queen Luxia exits some time after, twining her hands together and calling out to proclaim their decision. 

“Your words have touched our hearts, Paladins. We shall accept your aid with gratitude.”

* * *

Preparations for the interplanetary migration are going better with the Quarians' compliance. The massive ship they came in is mainly for storage and transport of the inhabitants and their possessions— Lance is very close to losing his shit over the _massive _fish tank taking up the cargo hold. They’ve called on some neighbors in the solar system to assist, and it’s jarring to see Galra and other aliens working together to save a planet.

In the whirlwind of commanders, soldiers, and negotiations— not for war, but for the _preservation of life_, Lance is still a little dazzled— he finds himself unsure of what to do. Someone occasionally tasks him with some minor cargo to transport, but he finds himself seeking out Keith. Lance manages to hunt him down at the palace, talking to the queen about additional samples needed from Quaris’ wildlife.

Keith is hunched over some documents when Lance enters the conference room. He nods at him briefly and turns back to the queen. “This is what the medicinal plants look like?”

“We’d appreciate a land-dweller to retrieve them, as many of our land scouts have been… compromised in the past couple of months.” Queen Luxia dips her head.

“The cave is above ground, but the herbs in there are essential to our cultivation of a new life.”

Lance speaks up. “I’ll go.”

“I’ll go with you.”

Keith’s response is so immediate it almost feels like a challenge. Lance eyes him and shrugs. “Alright.”

* * *

Planetary deterioration, evidently, extends to craggy, above-ground rock structures as well.

They’re sprinting through the crumbling cave, side by side, and Lance is eerily reminded of their Balmera mission, lifetimes ago.

“There’s an exit point here, I think,” Lance huffs out, glancing down at his holo-map in between dodging rocks.

“Are you so sure about that?” Keith pants back, hair falling out of its ponytail.

“Wait, I think we missed a path back—”

The resounding crash makes the rest of his sentence inaudible. Looking behind them, a mountain of boulders has blocked off the path from which they came. And looking forward…

“Dead end,” they groan in unison.

They resolve to pick up and toss away as much of the blockade as possible while Keith attempts to contact the other Blade Members.

He heaves a frustrated sigh, pushing his bangs back. “I was able to leave some kind of alert, so they’ll see it when they check their communicators again.”

Lance kicks at the main obstacle in their path, then reaches out to try and budge it. “Fantastic.”

“They’ll get us out. I trust the team.” 

“Don’t exactly have Red to crash through the wall to help us out here,” Lance grunts, still struggling with the largest boulder. “Though, maybe if you stubbed your toe, she’d blast out of space hibernation and down here.”

“She would’ve responded to you too, y’know.”

Lance snorts, slumping back against the wall. “Right. I didn’t exactly make much of an impression on her after she was piloted by Keith-fuckin-Kogane.”

Keith furrows his brow, sitting down across from him in the narrow clearing, and Lance is seventeen again, staring down the dropout emo kid that makes his blood boil. He has to look down, fiddle with the cuff of his jacket, or he might do something stupid.

“What do you mean?”

“I mean, she was good to me, too, don’t get me wrong. I could just… tell there was always a little bit of you she held onto. Like she couldn’t forget you— not that I wanted her to!” He waves a hand about. “And she always seemed a little, I guess, put off? Surprised by me? As if she expected something of me before I ever set foot in her cockpit.”

“I, well.” Keith’s face is flushed and he can’t seem to meet Lance’s eyes. “Hm. That’s weird.”

“Keith. What do you know?”

Now it’s Keith’s turn to look down and fidget. “She might’ve been a little familiar with you.” His voice gets smaller “I. I talked about you. To her. A lot.”

“All good things, I hope?” Lance jokes, rolling his eyes a little. Keith’s soft reply is like a slap in the face.

“Yeah.”

“What?”

“Why are you surprised?” He mutters, tugging at his hair.

“Well, I mean, your first impression of me was hardly stellar. Or the second. Or any of them, come to think of it.” Lance chuckles. “All I did was argue with you over things that didn’t matter and miss shots like it was my job.”

“Lance,” Keith says slowly, “That’s— you know that’s not true, right?”

“Right.” He laughs sort of humorlessly. “It’s— just forget about it, don’t worry.”

“What do you mean by ‘it’?”

Lance sighs. “I didn’t really— do much, you know? I never really had my big role in the scheme of things or character arc or, or. I don’t know. Never really found my purpose.” 

“But… but you did?” Keith sounds genuinely confused. “How could you think otherwise?” His voice swells in the enclosed space. “You were— are— an incredible marksman, a good fucking pilot, a strategizer, gifted at diplomacy even if you didn’t get to do it often, and. You kept us sane, kept us grounded, kept us from dying from the fucking pressure even if it was just by cracking a joke.”

Keith’s voice rings out with utter certainty.

“I know you said Allura was the heart of Voltron, but I don’t agree. You are the heart of Voltron, Lance.”

Lance’s throat feels tight. “I— I don’t—”

“You did. You _are._” Keith _looks_ at him, and his eyes are dark and soft. “I’ve never thought anything less of you.”

They’re both leaning closer, unconsciously, it seems. 

“Y’know I,” Lance rasps, “I always thought the world of you, Keith.”

Their words hang between them.

Keith half-rises from sitting against the wall and tumbles forward, nearly into Lance’s lap, and cradles his face like he’s something precious. “Can I—?”

“Yes, yes yes yes, I—”

The rest of his sentence is muffled against Keith’s lips. They’re chapped and bitten and soft like his eyes. Lance winds his arms around Keith, pulling him fully onto his lap and runs his hands up his back into those messy black locks. Their gear clacks together awkwardly and Lance thinks that maybe this planet’s atmosphere and gravity are more different from Earth’s than they initially thought because he feels like he’s floating now, every inch of skin tingling and head spinning and Keith is angling his head and pressing _even closer—_

They break apart for air, Keith’s head falling onto Lance’s shoulder.

“You—” Lance starts, and feels a laugh bubble up in his chest. “Seventeen-year-old Lance is losing his _shit_ right now.”

Keith sits back. “Bet. Fourteen-year-old Keith is going even crazier.”

“Really?” Lance teases. “That long?”

“Longer than you’d believe, Lance.” Keith looks away, cheeks flushing. “It’s… it’s always been you.”

Lance makes a frustrated noise. “You can’t just go and _say_ things like that and not expect me to—” He tugs Keith into another kiss.

This time, what breaks them apart is the sound of distant shouts. “There’s our relief team,” Keith says, but Lance is distracted by something behind him.

“Keith. Look behind you.”

“Huh?”

They untangle themselves and crouch down to get a better look.

“Is that…?”

The shouts grow closer, but Lance and Keith crawl further away from the entrance towards the violet glow emitting from behind the rocks. Lance reaches out, catches a clump of leaves, and pulls.

He turns to Keith, raising the hand clutching the herb triumphantly.

“I think we found what we were looking for.”

* * *

Queen Luxia grasps at the glowing sample bag delightedly.

“With this, a whole garden can bloom on our new world!”

Keith looks over at Lance, a tiny smile edging at his lips despite his professional front.

“I’m glad we could help.”

* * *

The common area is alight with celebration at a job well done. Lance would join in, but he heads for his seat instead.

This time, it's Keith who plops himself into the seat next to Lance. D’Jin only offers a smirk and slinks away.

“Hey, you.” Lance grins at Keith, leaning into his space.

“Hey, yourself.” Keith returns the smile, leaning a little closer too.

“What’s wrong? Not feeling the party?”

“I could ask you the same,” Keith snorts. “Weren’t you always going on about a Voltron parade?”

Lance waves a hand. “T’was the olden days. I’ve grown since then.”

“Right.” Keith eyes him. “D’you know what you’re gonna do after this mission?”

“I guess… return to the farm.”

“And?” Keith prompts.

“And what?” Lance returns, not looking at him. “Normal life, I guess.”

“Is that what you want?”

He pauses. “I don’t know. I… I feel like… I feel like I’m going crazy sometimes, Keith.” The admittance is a heavy weight off his chest. “I’m back with my family and I love them to death but I miss… I miss my other family.”

“Lance…” Keith starts, but he waves him off.

“S’okay. Not really something I can help. I’ll… I can get over it.”

“What if you didn't have to?”

“What, got something in mind?”

“Well…” 

Keith’s tone makes Lance turn to look at him. He’s biting his lip, a nervous expression on his face.

“What?”

“I want you to consider working as an officer.” Keith blurts out. “At the Galaxy Garrison. Their collaborative team with the Blade of Marmora is a little… lacking. I think you’d make a great addition.” Keith smiles hopefully at him, as if Lance’s heart hadn’t already taken a critical hit from what he just said.

“I’ll— I’ll have to think about it,” he gets out, something bright blooming in his chest.

“If you could think of it as a potential job perk…” Keith looks down, smiling a little bit. “I’d be hanging around a lot, ‘cause, uh… I’m thinking of applying there too. As a teacher.”

Lance’s eyes widen. “But what about captaining all— this?” He sweeps an arm out, indicating the revelry in the common area.

Keith’s eyes soften. “I’ll miss them, for sure. But… as great of a cause as saving the galaxy _again _is… I miss Earth. And Shiro. And our friends. And _you._” He takes Lance’s hand and squeezes it. “Look what you’ve done, gone and turned me into a homesick Earthling.”

Lance is still reeling from the possibility of— of working at the Garrison. Seeing Shiro and Pidge and Keith and the new generation of space explorers every day.

He taps a finger on his chin. “Being an officer sounds good but… I’m not fully sold on it.”

Keith’s face falls a little, but he does his best to hide it. “Uh, I mean, that’s okay, it was just a sugge—”

“I like the idea of… teaching. With you. And kicking space ass, on occasion.” Lance chuckles. “But in like, a humanitarian way.”

Keith rolls his eyes. “So you’ll think about it?”

Lance grins. “I’d like to cash in on that job perk you mentioned right _now_, actually.”

* * *

Sitting on the chairs outside Iverson’s office is an out-of-place throwback. His legs are too long to dangle over the side, Lance notes.

The door bangs open and he only barely keeps himself from flinching. Loud noises and memories of war zones are not an ideal mix.

“Step on in, McClain.” Iverson motions him in stiffly.

Once Lance is seated, he pulls out two folders and plops them onto the desk.

“So, the first part of your application— the officer for Marmora collaboration— was an easy decision to make, considering our staffing there currently consists of two interns and a Bii-Boh-Bi.”

Lance can’t tell if that’s a joke, but Iverson’s expression doesn’t have a shred of humor. But that’s also sort of his constant expression.

“So, my teaching application—”

“The Galaxy Garrison’s doors are always open for the saviors of our universe.” Iverson’s voice, despite its gruffness, softens when he addresses Lance.

“I think the kids need someone like you— someone who was one of them, doubted himself, was.” Iverson looks away. “Doubted by his instructors. They need someone who knows how that feels.”

Lance doesn’t know how to respond.

“They need someone who still pulled through and accomplished amazing things, and I couldn’t think of someone better for the job.”

His throat’s been feeling choked up more often than usual recently.

“I.” Lance tries again. “Thank you.”

“You don’t need to thank me,” Iverson says, locking eyes with him. “Consider it a far-overdue acknowledgment of potential.”

* * *

“And… uh…” Keith trails off as he catches sight of Lance, leaning against the doorframe. He attempts to get back on track. “This positioning requires a steady, um—”

“Commander Kogane, there’s two minutes left of class.” A student raises her hand and drawls from the third row, “Could you please spare us from you and your boyfriend being gross and dismiss us?”

Keith throws her a glare. “For all of your sakes, I hope you take the extra time to look over your manuals in preparation for the flying sim on Monday.” He waves a hand in dismissal.

Everyone grabs their bags and makes their way to the doors, some waving to Lance as they pass him. The class empties out fully just as the bell rings.

Lance smirks at him. “Soft.”

“I am _not_ soft on them!” Keith says indignantly. “I’ll be drilling every single one of them in the sim next week.”

“But in an educational, supportive teacher-y way, right?”

“Shut up.”

Lance laughs, strolling around his desk and leaning on it languidly. “You ready for tomorrow? Best man speech and manly tears ready to roll?”

“They’re not manly tears, they’re ‘big ol’ softie watches his big brother get married’ tears,” Keith shoots back. “That the answer you’re looking for?”

“Not funny if it’s completely true.”

Keith snorts. “Please, like you won’t be sobbing at Shiro’s first step down the aisle.”

“Maybe so,” Lance says haughtily.

“Your family already flown in?”

Lance’s eyes light up. “Yup! They’re dying to meet Tío Keith!”

Keith collects his things and slings his bag over his shoulder. “I’m warning you now, if one of your siblings’ kids call me that, I might actually die.”

“You can handle it.” Lance steps into his space, crowding him against the desk. “Softie.”

Keith seems to give up on protesting otherwise and presses his mouth to Lance’s. Even with his eyes closed, he can see the light streaming into the classroom from behind his eyelids.

He opens his eyes, and Keith’s hair is glowing golden at the edges from the sun. He threads his fingers through the dark tufts and leans in for another kiss.

“Y’think it’ll turn out fine?”

He means the wedding, and meeting Lance’s family, of course.

“Yeah.”

Unbidden, something a many-armed, overly cautious genius alien once said to him comes to mind, and Lance murmurs it against Keith’s lips.

“This is the reality where everything turns out fine.”

**Author's Note:**

> that slav quote is one my favorites in the whole show :’)
> 
> whew. it’s been a wild ride writing this, first applying in january all the way to the finished product right here. i meant to post it earlier, but i was a little caught up in my julance art thread on twitter ([wink wonk](https://mobile.twitter.com/ayushipop/status/1145880616434569217))
> 
> once again, [check out the stars align!](https://thestarsalign-klancezine.tumblr.com/post/186112328958/after-many-months-and-so-many-applicants-we-have) my fellow contributors and the mods are all wonderful hard workers & the end product is truly beautiful :’)
> 
> [last promo i swear its just my tomblr ](https://ayushipop.tumblr.com)
> 
> feel free to drop a kudos or comment if you enjoyed!💙


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